India's handlooms

Learn about India's handlooms, used for thousands of years.

People in India knew how to weave even 4,000 years ago! Traditional weaving is done by hand on an instrument called a loom. The cloth made this way is called handloom fabric. India has some of the best handloom weavers, who are experts at their craft.

India has many handloom traditions, each with its own way of weaving and its own patterns. Kanjeevaram comes from Tamil Nadu, Pashmina from Kashmir, and Ikat from Odisha and Gujarat. Pashmina wool comes from a special goat called the Changthangi, found high in the cold mountains of Ladakh. People hand-spin and weave this wool into very soft shawls.

Weaving is not just about making clothes. It gives work to many families, and it keeps our traditional skills and designs alive. That is why weaving is so special for India.

Today, textile mills also use modern machines to spin thread and weave cloth in large amounts.

India has woven for 4,000 years; hand-weaving on a loom makes handloom fabric, with traditions like Kanjeevaram (Tamil Nadu), Pashmina (Kashmir) and Ikat (Odisha and Gujarat), and weaving gives families work and keeps skills alive.

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